Even though we've already been to the academy of Music for a concert (and a might fine one it was), we decided to go back for the tour to get some proper photos. Although this is not the original digs for this music school/performance venue, it is suitably impressive to honor Franz Liszt, the founder.
To get a feel for the caliber of this place, here is a short list of just the graduates that I have heard of (probably says more about who I don't know about than who they graduate...)
Impressive, eh?
Like other places throughout the facility, there is lots of gilt in the lobby. The dark blues and greens, we were told, are intended convey a water theme. The ground floor is figuratively, underwater. There is even an empty water fountain below the muses.
The entrance of the main hall on either side of the basin is a beautiful continuation of the theme.
Inside the main hall, the theme is a tree with the black seating on the floor representing the roots, the pillars in the corners indicating the trunks, and the intricate arabesque of gilt leaves on the ceiling are the leaves. But for any mere mortal entering this space, it is clearly dominated by the enormous pipe organ in the front.
Even the ceiling in the back of the hall is filled with golden leaves.
There are plaques at the top of the four corners with musical words. This one, for instance says "Adagio".
The steel and gold of the organ show a design that is more than a little suggestive of Hungarian patriotism. On the whole, the design with the chandelier hung in front of it, really gives the impression of a church. This, then, is a holy place for music and our tour guide more than once joked, tongue in cheek, about his being a holy place. It really feels like one.
When we there, the chandeliers over the seating area were lowered so that the burned-out bulbs could be replaced.
In the upstrairs lobby, we find the various muses, now above the surface of the water in the lobby below) dancing and drinking the water.
Everywhere are these art deco windows that fill the rooms with light and color.
To one side of the main hall is the Sir Georg Solti hall where, chamber music is played and prospective students do their tryouts to get into the academy. Intimidated anyone?
On our way out, I took the opportunity to sit on the floor and get a photo of the chandelier overhead in the lobby. After a visit to the coffee shop in the building for a recharge with a cappuccino, we heading out into the world once again.
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